May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and according to the CDC, our kids are facing a mental health tsunami. Consider these recent statistics:

• Suicide & homicide rates in ages 10 to 24 are the highest they have been in decades, since 1968.
• 42% of adolescents are feeling sadness and hopelessness, up 50% from 2011 (57% are females).
• 22% of all students have considered attempting suicide, up from 36%.
• Youth and young adults (ages 10-24) account for 15% of all suicides, an increase of 52.2% since 2000.
• Suicide has become the second-leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24.
• 46% of adolescence ages 13 to 17 say that social media makes their body image worse.

Parents are justifiably concerned, and often they don’t know where to start when a child is struggling mentally.

 
My guest in Episode 103 of CHRISTIAN PARENT/CRAZY WORLD is Dr. Bill Senyard, a mental health expert who specializes in helping parents reconnect the critical bond with their child to address the foundation of their mental health.
Every child has two primary needs from their parents:

1. They need to feel CONNECTED.
2. They need to feel like they are ENOUGH. 

A child must know that their parents have their back, and they must know that they are loved no matter what. If this critical foundation breaks down, a child will become disconnected from their parents and others.  They will suffer in all of their relationships and in their mental health.
 
Dr. Senyard shares how to reestablish the critical parent/child connection through attunement. To find out what attunement is and how to use this powerful tool to connect with your child, tune in to Episode 103 of CP/CW.

To hear this vitally important conversation on Life Audio, click on the image below:

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EPISODE RESOURCES:

DR. BILL SENYARD’S BIO: Bill’s career has taken him from being a Chemical engineer, a strategic management consultant, and a co-owner of an Inc. 500 high-tech company to fulltime church ministry where he served multiple congregations as a Lead Pastor for over 35 years. He is a popular conference speaker in the US and Canada as well as abroad. He has written over a dozen non-fiction books and workbooks on a wide range of important topics including, how Christians can effectively and Biblically forgive others, how frustrated parents of teens can be “good enough parents” and most importantly, God’s love for the unlovable. Bill is the creator of The Good Enough Parent, a phenomenal curriculum that has a ton of free resources for parents.

Bill’s Website

Good Enough Parent Curriculum

Attachment Theory For Teens Simplified (video)

Bill’s Book: Tale of the Unlikely Prince

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED:

John 3:16

Romans 8:1

Ephesians 3